;
hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 =
County
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
, subdivision_name1 =
Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 =
Status
, subdivision_name2 =
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
, settlement_type =
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name =
Emil Boc
, leader_party =
PNL
, leader_title1 = Deputy Mayor
, leader_name1 = Dan Tarcea (PNL)
, leader_title2 = Deputy Mayor
, leader_name2 = Emese Oláh (
UDMR)
, leader_title3 = City Manager
, leader_name3 = Gheorghe Șurubaru (PNL)
, established_title= Founded
, established_date = 1213 (first official record as ''Clus'')
, area_total_km2 = 179.5
, area_total_sq_mi = 69.3
, area_metro_km2 = 1537.5
, elevation_m = 340
, population_as_of =
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, population_total = 324,576
, population_footnotes=
, population_density_km2=1 808
, pop_est_as_of = 2016
, population_est = 321,687
, pop_est_footnotes=
, population_metro=411,379
, coordinates =
, postal_code_type =
Postal Code
A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...
, postal_code = 400xyz
1
, area_code =
+40 x642
, blank_name =
Car Plates
, blank_info = CJ
3
, footnotes =
1x, y, and z are digits that indicate the street, part of the street, or even the building of the address
2x is a digit indicating the operator: 2 for the former national operator,
Romtelecom
Telekom Romania Communications (formerly known as Romtelecom) is a Romanian telecommunications company, which provides fixed voice, television and data services, for residential and business customers in Romania. As of 2020, Telekom Romania Commun ...
, and 3 for the other ground telephone networks
3used just on the plates of vehicles that operate only within the city limits (such as
trolley buses,
trams, utility vehicles,
ATVs
ATV may refer to:
Broadcasting
* Amateur television
*Analog television
Television stations and companies
* Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
* ATV (Armenia)
* ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate
* ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne
* ATV (Austria)
* ATV ...
, etc.)
, website =
, image_caption = From top and left: Cluj-Napoca panorama •
St. Michael's Church •
Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral •
Medieval house of Matthias Corvinus •
Romanian National Opera •
Babeș-Bolyai University
Cluj-Napoca (), or simply Cluj ( hu, Kolozsvár , german: Klausenburg), is the fourth-most populous city in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
.
[ It is the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from ]Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
(), Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
() and Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
(). Located in the Someșul Mic river valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital of the historical province of Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
. From 1790 to 1848 and from 1861 to 1867, it was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania.
, 324,576 inhabitants lived within the city limits (making it the country's second most populous at the time, after the national capital Bucharest), marking a slight increase from the figure recorded at the 2002 census. The Cluj-Napoca metropolitan area
The Cluj metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in Cluj County, which includes Cluj-Napoca and 19 communes nearby: Aiton, Apahida, Baciu, Bonțida, Borșa, Căianu, Chinteni, Ciurila, Cojocna, Feleacu, Florești, Gilău, Gârbau, Jucu, Petre ...
has a population of 411,379 people, while the population of the peri-urban
Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of scattered and dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of fragmented and mixed urban and rural characteristics.
Origin
The expression originates from the French word ' ("peri-urban" ...
area (Romanian: ''zona periurbană'') exceeds 420,000 residents. The new metropolitan government of Cluj-Napoca became operational in December 2008. According to a 2007 estimate provided by the County Population Register Service, the city hosts a visible population of students and other non-residents—an average of over 20,000 people each year during 2004–2007. The city spreads out from St. Michael's Church in Unirii Square, built in the 14th century and named after the Archangel Michael, Cluj's patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
. The boundaries of the municipality contain an area of .
Cluj experienced a decade of decline during the 1990s, its international reputation suffering from the policies of its mayor at the time, Gheorghe Funar. Today, the city is one of the most important academic, cultural, industrial and business centres in Romania. Among other institutions, it hosts the country's largest university, Babeș-Bolyai University, with its botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
; nationally renowned cultural institutions; as well as the largest Romanian-owned commercial bank. Cluj-Napoca held the titles of European Youth Capital
Turin (2010)
Antwerp (2011)
Braga (2012)
Maribor (2013)
Thessaloniki (2014)
Ganja (2016)
The 'European Youth Capital'' (abbreviated EYC) is the title awarded by the European Youth Forum to a European city, designed to empower ...
in 2015, and European City of Sport in 2018.
Etymology
Napoca
On the site of the city was a pre-Roman settlement named ''Napoca''. After the AD 106 Roman conquest of the area, the place was known as ''Municipium Aelium Hadrianum Napoca''. Possible etymologies for ''Napoca'' or ''Napuca'' include the names of some Dacian tribes
This is a list of ancient tribes in Thrace and Dacia ( grc, Θρᾴκη, Δακία) including possibly or partly Thracian or Dacian tribes, and non-Thracian or non-Dacian tribes that inhabited the lands known as Thrace and Dacia. A great number o ...
such as the ''Naparis'' or ''Napaei'', the Greek term ''napos'' (νάπος), meaning "timbered valley" or the Indo-European root
The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) are basic parts of words that carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots usually have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the lang ...
''*snā-p-'' ( Pokorny 971–972), "to flow, to swim, damp".[Lukács 2005, p.14]
Cluj
The first written mention of the city's current name – as a Royal Borough – was in 1213 under the Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
name ''Castrum Clus''. Despite the fact that ''Clus'' as a county name was recorded in the 1173 document ''Thomas comes Clusiensis'',[Lazarovici et al. 1997, p.32 (3.1 De la Napoca romană la Clujul medieval)] it is believed that the county's designation derives from the name of the '' castrum'', which might have existed prior to its first mention in 1213, and not vice versa.[ With respect to the name of this camp, it is widely accepted as a derivation from the ]Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
term ''clausa – clusa'', meaning "closed place", "strait", "ravine".[ Similar senses are attributed to the Slavic term ''kluč'', meaning "a ]key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
"[ and the German ''Klause – Kluse'' (meaning "mountain pass" or "]weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
"). The Latin and Slavic names have been attributed to the valley that narrows or closes between hills just to the west of Cluj-Mănăștur.[ An alternative hypothesis relates the name of the city to its first magistrate, ''Miklus'' – ''Miklós'' / ''Kolos''.][
The Hungarian form ''Kolozsvár'', first recorded in 1246 as ''Kulusuar'', underwent various ]phonetic change
A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chang ...
s over the years (''uar'' / ''vár'' means "castle" in Hungarian); the variant ''Koloswar'' first appears in a document from 1332. Its Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
name ''Clusenburg''/''Clusenbvrg'' appeared in 1348, but from 1408 the form ''Clausenburg'' was used.[ The ]Romanian name
A name in Romanian tradition consists of a given name (''prenume'') and a family name (surname) (''nume'' or ''nume de familie''). In official documents, surnames usually appear before given names.
Given names
Romanians have one, two or more g ...
of the city used to be spelled alternately as ''Cluj'' or ''Cluș'', the latter being the case in Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active membe ...
's ''Poesis''.
Other historical names for the city, all related to or derived from "Cluj" in different languages, include Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Claudiopolis'', Italian ''Clausemburgo'', Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
''Kaloşvar'' and Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
קלויזנבורג ''Kloyznburg'' or קלאזין ''Klazin''.[
]
Current official name
Napoca, the pre-Roman and Roman name of ancient settlements in the area of the modern city, was added to the historical and modern name of Cluj during Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...
's national-communist dictatorship as part of his myth-making efforts. This happened in 1974, when the communist authorities made this nationalist gesture with the goal of emphasising the city's pre-Roman roots. The full name of "Cluj-Napoca" is rarely used outside of official contexts.
Nickname
The nickname "treasure city" was acquired in the late 16th century, and refers to the wealth amassed by residents, including in the precious metals trade. The phrase is ''kincses város'' in Hungarian,[ given in Romanian as ''orașul comoară''.][
]
History
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
conquered Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
in AD 101 and 106, during the rule of Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
, and the Roman settlement Napoca, established thereafter, is first recorded on a milestone discovered in 1758 in the vicinity of the city.[Lazarovici ''et al.'' 1997, pp. 202–03 (6.2 Cluj in the Old and Ancient Epochs)] Trajan's successor Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
granted Napoca the status of ''municipium
In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...
'' as ''municipium Aelium Hadrianum Napocenses''. Later, in the second century AD, the city gained the status of a '' colonia'' as ''Colonia Aurelia Napoca''. Napoca became a provincial capital of Dacia Porolissensis
Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...
and thus the seat of a procurator. The ''colonia'' was evacuated in 274 by the Romans.[ There are no references to urban settlement on the site for the better part of a millennium thereafter.
]
Middle Ages
At the beginning of the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, two groups of buildings existed on the current site of the city: the wooden fortress at Cluj-Mănăștur (''Kolozsmonostor'') and the civilian settlement developed around the current ''Piața Muzeului'' (Museum Place) in the city centre.[Alicu 2003, p.9] Although the precise date of the conquest of Transylvania by the Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
is not known, the earliest Hungarian artifacts found in the region are dated to the first half of the tenth century. In any case, after that time, the city became part of the Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. King Stephen I made the city the seat of the castle county of Kolozs, and King Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary founded the abbey of Cluj-Mănăștur (''Kolozsmonostor''), destroyed during the Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different invasions in 1241 and 1285.[ As for the civilian colony, a castle and a village were built to the northwest of the ancient Napoca no later than the late 12th century.][ This new village was settled by large groups of Transylvanian Saxons, encouraged during the reign of Crown Prince Stephen, Duke of Transylvania.][ The first reliable mention of the settlement dates from 1275, in a document of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary, when the village (''Villa Kulusvar'') was granted to the Bishop of Transylvania.][Lazarovici et al. 1997, p. 204 (6.3 Medieval Cluj)] On 19 August 1316, during the rule of the new king, Charles I of Hungary, Cluj was granted the status of a city (Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''civitas''), as a reward for the Saxons' contribution to the defeat of the rebellious Transylvanian voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...
, Ladislaus Kán
Ladislaus ( or according to the case) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin.
It may refer to:
* Ladislaus of Hungary (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus I (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus II (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus III (disambiguation)
* Ladi ...
.[
The couple buried together and known as the Lovers of Cluj-Napoca are believed to have lived between 1450 and 1550.
Many craft guilds were established in the second half of the 13th century, and a patrician stratum based in commerce and craft production displaced the older landed elite in the town's leadership. Through the privilege granted by ]Sigismund of Luxembourg
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...
in 1405, the city opted out from the jurisdiction of voivodes, vice-voivodes and royal judges, and obtained the right to elect a twelve-member jury every year.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, p.38 (3.1 De la Napoca romană la Clujul medieval)] In 1488, King Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...
(born in Kolozsvár in 1443) ordered that the centumvirate—the city council, consisting of one hundred men—be half composed from the ''homines bone conditiones'' (the wealthy people), with craftsmen supplying the other half; together they would elect the chief judge and the jury.[ Meanwhile, an agreement was reached providing that half of the representatives on this city council were to be drawn from the Hungarian, half from the Saxon population, and that judicial offices were to be held on a rotating basis.][Brubaker et al. 2006, pp. 90–1] In 1541, Kolozsvár became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom (that transformed to Principality of Transylvania in 1570) after the Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
occupied the central part of the Kingdom of Hungary; a period of economic and cultural prosperity followed.[ Although Alba Iulia (''Gyulafehérvár'') served as a political capital for the princes of Transylvania, ]Cluj
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
(''Kolozsvár'') enjoyed the support of the princes to a greater extent, thus establishing connections with the most important centres of Eastern Europe at that time, along with Košice
Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...
(''Kassa''), Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, Prague and Vienna.[
]
16th–18th centuries
In terms of religion, Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
ideas first appeared in the middle of the 16th century. During Gáspár Heltai
Gáspár Heltai (born as Kaspar Helth) (''c''. 1490–1574) was a Transylvanian Saxon writer and printer. His name possibly derives from the village Heltau ( hu, Nagydisznód, today Cisnădie, Romania). Despite being a German native speaker he ...
's service as preacher, Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
grew in importance, as did the Swiss doctrine of Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, p. 205 (6.3 Medieval Cluj)] By 1571, the Turda (''Torda'') Diet had adopted a more radical religion, Ferenc Dávid's Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
, characterised by the free interpretation of the Bible and denial of the dogma of the Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
.[ Stephen Báthory founded a Catholic ]Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
academy in the city in order to promote an anti-Reform movement; however, it did not have much success.[ For a year, in 1600–1601, Cluj became part of the ]personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
of Michael the Brave
Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...
. Under the Treaty of Carlowitz
The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by th ...
in 1699, it became part of the Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
.
In the 17th century, Cluj suffered from great calamities, suffering from epidemics of the plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
and devastating fires.[ The end of this century brought the end of Turkish sovereignty, but found the city bereft of much of its wealth, municipal freedom, cultural centrality, political significance and even population.][Brubaker et al. 2006, p.91] It gradually regained its important position within Transylvania as the headquarters of the Gubernium and the Diets between 1719 and 1732, and again from 1790 until the revolution of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
, when the Gubernium moved to Nagyszeben (Hermannstadt
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
), present-day Sibiu).[Lazarovici et al. 1997, pp.42,44,68 (3.1 De la Napoca romană la Clujul medieval; 4.1 Centru al mișcării naționale)] In 1791, a group of Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
intellectuals drew up a petition, known as ''Supplex Libellus Valachorum
''Supplex Libellus Valachorum Transsilvaniae'' (Latin for ''Petition of the Romanians of Transylvania'') is the name of two petitions sent by the leaders of the ethnic Romanians of Transylvania to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, demanding equ ...
'', which was sent to the Emperor in Vienna. The petition demanded the equality of the Romanian nation in Transylvania in respect to the other nations (Saxon, Szekler and Hungarian) governed by the '' Unio Trium Nationum'', but it was rejected by the Diet of Cluj.[
]
19th century
Beginning in 1830, the city became the centre of the Hungarian national movement within the principality.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, p.206 (6.4 Cluj in Modern Times)] This erupted with the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. At one point, the Austrians were gaining control of Transylvania, trapping the Hungarians between two flanks. But, the Hungarian army, headed by the Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
general Józef Bem, launched an offensive in Transylvania, recapturing Klausenburg by Christmas 1848. After the 1848 revolution, an absolutist regime was established, followed by a liberal regime that came to power in 1860. In this latter period, the government granted equal rights to the ethnic Romanians, but only briefly. In 1865, the Diet in Cluj abolished the laws voted in Sibiu (Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt, and proclaimed the 1848 Law concerning the Union of Transylvania with Hungary.[ A modern university was founded in 1872, with the intention of promoting the integration of Transylvania into Hungary. Before 1918, the city's only Romanian-language schools were two church-run elementary schools, and the first printed Romanian periodical did not appear until 1903.][
After the ]Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...
, Klausenburg and all of Transylvania were again integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary. During this time, Kolozsvár was among the largest and most important cities of the kingdom and was the seat of Kolozs
Kolozs County was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and of the Principality of Transylvania. Its territory is now in north-western Romania (north-western Transylvania). The capital ...
County. Ethnic Romanians in Transylvania suffered oppression and persecution.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, pp.74–5 (6.4 Centru al mișcării naționale)] Their grievances found expression in the Transylvanian Memorandum
The ''Transylvanian Memorandum'' ( ro, Memorandumul Transilvaniei) was a petition sent in 1892 by the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph, asking for equal ethnic rights with the Hungarians, ...
, a petition sent in 1892 by the political leaders of Transylvania's Romanians to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph. It asked for equal rights with the Hungarians and demanded an end to persecutions and attempts at Magyarisation
Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithan ...
.[ The Emperor forwarded the memorandum to Budapest—the Hungarian capital. The authors, among them ]Ioan Rațiu
Ioan is a variation on the name John found in Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Welsh (), and Sardinian. It is usually masculine. The female equivalent in Romanian and Bulgarian is Ioana. In Russia, the name Ioann is usually reserved for the clergy ...
and Iuliu Coroianu, were arrested, tried and sentenced to prison for "high treason" in Kolozsvár/Cluj in May 1894. During the trial, approximately 20,000 people who had come to Cluj demonstrated on the streets of the city in support of the defendants.[ A year later, the King gave them pardon upon the advice of his Hungarian prime minister, ]Dezső Bánffy
Baron Dezső Bánffy de Losonc (28 October 184324 May 1911) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1895 to 1899.
Biography
The son of Baron Dániel Bánffy and Anna Gyárfás, Dezső Bánffy was born in Kolozs ...
. In 1897, the Hungarian government decided that only Hungarian place names should be used and prohibited the use of the German or Romanian versions of the city's name on official government documents.
20th century
In the autumn of 1918, as World War I drew to a close, Cluj became a centre of revolutionary activity, headed by Amos Frâncu. On 28 October 1918, Frâncu made an appeal for the organisation of the "union of all Romanians".[Lazarovici ''et al.'' 1997, p. 207 (6.4 Cluj in Modern Times)] Thirty-nine delegates were elected from Cluj to attend the proclamation of the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania in the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918;[ the transfer of sovereignty was formalized by the ]Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in ...
in June 1920. The interwar years saw the new authorities embark on a "Romanianisation" campaign: a Capitoline Wolf statue donated by Rome was set up in 1921; in 1932 a plaque written by historian Nicolae Iorga was placed on Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...
's statue, emphasising his Romanian paternal ancestry; and construction of an imposing Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
cathedral began, in a city where only about a tenth of the inhabitants belonged to the Orthodox state church.[Brubaker et al. 2006, pp. 100–1] This endeavour had only mixed results: by 1939, Hungarians still dominated local economic (and to a certain extent) cultural life: for instance, Cluj had five Hungarian daily newspapers and just one in Romanian.[
In 1940, Cluj, along with the rest of ]Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...
, became part of Miklós Horthy's Hungary through the Second Vienna Award arbitrated by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and Fascist Italy
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
.[ After the Germans occupied Hungary in March 1944 and installed a puppet government under Döme Sztójay, they forced large-scale ]antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
measures in the city. The headquarters of the local Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
were located in the New York Hotel. That May, the authorities began the relocation of the Jews to the Iris ghetto.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, pp. 140–41 (5.2 Dictatul de la Viena – 30 August 1940)] Liquidation of the 16,148 captured Jews occurred through six deportations to Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
in May–June 1944.[ Despite facing severe sanctions from the Hungarian administration, some Jews escaped across the border to Romania, with the assistance of intellectuals such as ]Emil Hațieganu
Emil Hațieganu (December 9, 1878—May 13, 1959) was a Romanian politician and jurist, a prominent member of the Romanian National Party (PNR) and of its successor, the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ); he was physician Iuliu Hațieganu's brother. ...
, Raoul Șorban
Raoul Șorban (September 4, 1912 – July 19, 2006) was a Romanian painter, journalist, writer, essayist, art historian, academic, and memoirist.
Biography
His father, the composer Guilelm Șorban, descended from an old ethnic Romanian noble f ...
, Aurel Socol and Dezső Miskolczy Dezső is a Hungarian given male name, the Hungarian form of Desiderius. It may refer to:
People
* Dezső Bánffy, Hungarian politician
* Dezső Ernster, Hungarian opera singer
*Dezső Földes, Hungarian 2x Olympic champion saber fencer
* Dezső ...
, as well as various peasants from Mănăștur.[
On 11 October 1944 the city was captured by ]Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
and Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops.[ It was formally restored to the ]Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...
by the Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
in 1947. On 24 January 6 March and 10 May 1946, the Romanian students, who had come back to Cluj after the restoration of northern Transylvania, rose against the claims of autonomy made by nostalgic Hungarians and the new way of life imposed by the Soviets, resulting in clashes and street fights.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 produced a powerful echo within the city; there was a real possibility that demonstrations by students sympathizing with their peers across the border could escalate into an uprising. The protests provided the Romanian authorities with a pretext to speed up the process of "unification" of the local Babeș (Romanian) and Bolyai (Hungarian) universities, allegedly contemplated before the 1956 events. Hungarians remained the majority of the city's population until the 1960s. Then Romanians began to outnumber Hungarians, due to the population increase as a result of the government's forced industrialisation of the city and new jobs.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, pp. 154,159 (5.3 Perioada totalitarismului)] During the Communist period, the city recorded a high industrial development, as well as enforced construction expansion. On 16 October 1974, when the city celebrated 1850 years since its first mention as Napoca, the Communist government changed the name of the city by adding "Napoca" to it.[
]
1989 revolution and after
During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Cluj-Napoca was one of the scenes of the rebellion: 26 were killed and approximately 170 injured. After the end of totalitarian rule, the nationalist politician Gheorghe Funar became mayor and governed for the next 12 years. His tenure was marked by strong Romanian nationalism and acts of ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
provocation against the Hungarian-speaking minority. This deterred foreign investment;[ however, in June 2004, Gheorghe Funar was voted out of office, and the city entered a period of rapid economic growth.][ From 2004 to 2009, the mayor was Emil Boc, concurrently president of the Democratic Liberal Party. He went on to be elected as ]prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, returning as mayor in 2012.
Geography
Cluj-Napoca, located in the central part of Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, has a surface area of . The city lies at the confluence of the Apuseni Mountains, the Someș plateau and the Transylvanian plain. It sprawls over the valleys of Someșul Mic and Nadăș, and, to some extent over the secondary valleys of the Popești, Chintău, Borhanci and Popii rivers. The southern part of the city occupies the upper terrace of the northern slope of Feleac Hill, and is surrounded on three sides by hills or mountains with heights between and .[ The Someș plateau is situated to the east, while the northern part of town includes ''Dealurile Clujului'' ("the Hills of Cluj"), with the peaks, Lombului (684 m), Dealul Melcului (617 m), Techintău (633 m), Hoia (506 m) and Gârbău (570 m).][ Other hills are located in the western districts, and the hills of Calvaria and Cetățuia (''Belvedere'') are located near the centre of city.
Built on the banks of the river Someșul Mic, the city is also crossed over by brooks or streams such as ''Pârâul Țiganilor'', ''Pârâul Popești'', ''Pârâul Nădășel'', ''Pârâul Chintenilor'', ''Pârâul Becaș'', ''Pârâul Murătorii''; '']Canalul Morilor
The Canalul Morilor is a canal in the lowland area south of the river Crișul Alb in Arad County, western Romania. Constructed in the 19th century for water-mills, it is now used for irrigation. It takes water from the Crișul Alb near Berindia, f ...
'' runs through the centre of town.[Lukács 2005, pp.9–11]
A wide variety of flora grow in the Cluj-Napoca Botanical Garden
The Cluj-Napoca Botanical Garden, officially Alexandru Borza Cluj-Napoca University Botanic Garden ( ro, Grădina Botanică Alexandru Borza a Universităţii Cluj-Napoca), is a botanical garden located in the south part of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. ...
; some animals have also found refuge there. The city has a number of other parks, of which the largest is the Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. This park was founded during the 19th century and includes an artificial lake with an island, as well as the largest casino in the city, ''Chios''. Other notable parks in the city are the Iuliu Hațieganu
Iuliu Hațieganu (April 14, 1885 – September 4, 1959) was a Romanian internist doctor particularly recognized for research done in the field of tuberculosis. He founded in Cluj a valuable school of internal medicine. Today, Cluj University of ...
Park of the Babeș-Bolyai University, which features some sport facilities, the Hașdeu Park, within the eponymous student housing district, the high-elevation Cetățuia, and the Opera Park, behind the building of the Cluj-Napoca Romanian Opera
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
.
Surroundings
The city is surrounded by forests and grasslands. Rare species of plants, such as Venus's slipper and iris, are found in the two botanical reservations of Cluj-Napoca, '' Fânațele Clujului'' and ''Rezervația Valea Morii'' ("Mill Valley Reservation"). Animals such as boars, badgers, foxes, rabbits and squirrels live in nearby forest areas such as Făget and Hoia. The latter forest hosts the Romulus Vuia ethnographical park, with exhibits dating back to 1678. Various people report alien encounters in the Hoia-Baciu forest, large networks of catacomb
Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire.
Etymology and history
The first place to be referred ...
s that connect the old churches of the city, or the presence of a monster in the nearby lake of Tarnița.
A modern, -long ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
sits on Feleac Hill, with an altitude difference of between its highest and lowest points. This ski resort offers outdoor lighting, artificial snow and a ski tow
A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...
. Băișoara
Băișoara ( hu, Járabánya; german: Kleingrub, Ginsdorf) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Băișoara, Frăsinet, Moara de Pădure, Muntele Băișorii (''Bányahavas''), Muntele Bocului (''Bikala ...
winter resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nor ...
is located approximately from the city of Cluj-Napoca, and includes two ski trails, for beginner and advanced skiers, respectively: ''Zidul Mic'' and ''Zidul Mare''.[András et al. 2003, p.81] Two other summer resorts/spas are included in the metropolitan area, namely Cojocna
Cojocna ( hu, Kolozs; german: Salzgrub, Klosmarkt) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Boj-Cătun (''Bósi alagút''), Boju (''Kolozsbós''), Cara (''Kolozskara''), Cojocna, Huci (''Cserealja''), Iu ...
and Someșeni
Someșeni (formerly known as ''Someșfalău''; German: ''Mikelsdorf''; Hungarian: ''Szamosfalva'') is a largely residential neighbourhood of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
History
The area was inhabited by Gepids
The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, ...
Baths.
There are a large number of castles in the countryside surroundings, constructed by wealthy medieval families living in the city. The most notable of them is the Bonțida Bánffy Castle
Bánffy Castle is an architectural monument situated in Bonţida, a village in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, with construction phases and stylistic features belonging to Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Neogothic styles. It is ow ...
—once known as "the Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
of Transylvania"—in the nearby village of Bonțida
Bonțida (; hu, Bonchida, , transl. "Bonc's bridge"; german: Bonisbruck) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is known as the home of a Baroque castle owned by the Bánffy family (of which Miklós Bánffy was a member); partly ...
, from the city centre. In 1963, the castle was used as a set for Liviu Ciulei's film ''Forest of the Hanged
''Forest of the Hanged'' ( ro, Pădurea spânzuraților) is a 1964 Romanian drama film directed by Liviu Ciulei, and based on the eponymous novel by Liviu Rebreanu. Ciulei won the award for Best Director at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.
''Fo ...
'', which won an award at Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
. There are other castles located in the vicinity of the city; indeed, the castle at Bonțida is not even the only one constructed by the Bánffy family. The commune of Gilău features the Wass-Bánffy Castle, while another Bánffy Castle is located in the Răscruci area. In addition, Nicula Monastery
Nicula Monastery is an important pilgrimage center in the north of Transylvania. It is located in Nicula village, Cluj County, in the vicinity of Gherla.
An unconfirmed tradition holds that the monastery was established in the 14th century. The fi ...
, erected during the 18th century, is an important pilgrimage site in northern Transylvania. This monastery houses the renowned wonder-working Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
of Nicula.[András et al. 2003, p.142] The icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
is said to have wept between 15 February and 12 March 1669. During this time, nobles, officers, laity and clergy came to see it. At first they were sceptical, looking at it on both sides, but then humbly crossed themselves and returned home petrified by the wonder they had seen.[ During the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (commemorating the death of the ]Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
) on 15 August, more than 150,000 people from all over the country come to visit the monastery.[
]
Climate
Cluj-Napoca has a warm-summer continental climate ( Köppen: Dfb). The climate is influenced by the city's proximity to the Apuseni Mountains, as well as by urbanisation. Some West-Atlantic influences are present during winter and autumn. Winter temperatures are often below , even though they rarely drop below . On average, snow covers the ground for 65 days each winter. In summer, the average temperature is approximately (the average for July and August), despite the fact that temperatures sometimes reach to in mid-summer in the city centre. Although average precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
and humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depe ...
during summer is low, there are infrequent yet heavy and often violent storms. During spring and autumn, temperatures vary between to , and precipitation during this time tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.
The city has the best air quality in the European Union, according to research published in 2014 by a French magazine and air-quality organization that studied the EU's hundred largest cities.
Law and government
Administration
The city government is headed by a mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
. Since 2012, the office is held by Emil Boc, who was returned at that year's local election
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
for a third term, having resigned in 2008 to become Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
.[ Decisions are approved and discussed by the local government (''consiliu local'') made up of 27 elected councillors.][ The city is divided into 15 districts (''cartiere'') laid out radially. City hall intends to develop local administrative branches for most of the districts.
Because of the last years' massive urban development, in 2005 some areas of Cluj were named as districts (Sopor, Borhanci, Becaș, Făget, Zorilor South), but most of them are still construction sites. Beside these, there are some other building areas like ''Tineretului'', ''Lombului'' or ''Oser'', which are likely to become districts in the following years.
Additionally, as Cluj-Napoca is the capital of Cluj County, the city hosts the palace of the prefecture, the headquarters of the ]county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
(''consiliu județean'') and the prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
, who is appointed by Romania's central government.[ The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party, and his role is to represent the national government at the local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the implementation of National Development Plans and governing programmes at the local level.][ Like all other local councils in Romania, the Cluj-Napoca local council, the county council and the city's mayor are elected every four years by the population.][
Cluj-Napoca is also the capital of the historical region of ]Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, a status that resonates to this day. Currently, the city is the largest in the Nord-Vest development region, which is equivalent to NUTS-II
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003 ...
regions in the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and is used by the European Union and the Romanian Government for statistical analysis and regional development. The Nord-Vest development region is not, however, an administrative entity.[ The ]Cluj-Napoca metropolitan area
The Cluj metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in Cluj County, which includes Cluj-Napoca and 19 communes nearby: Aiton, Apahida, Baciu, Bonțida, Borșa, Căianu, Chinteni, Ciurila, Cojocna, Feleacu, Florești, Gilău, Gârbau, Jucu, Petre ...
became operational in December 2008,[ and comprises a population of 411,379.][ Besides Cluj-Napoca, it includes seventeen communes: Aiton, Apahida, ]Baciu
Baciu ( hu, Kisbács or ''Bács''; german: Botschendorf) is a commune in Cluj County, located in the region of Transylvania, in the northwestern part of Romania. Baciu lies a short distance from the county seat of Cluj-Napoca. It is composed of s ...
, Bonțida
Bonțida (; hu, Bonchida, , transl. "Bonc's bridge"; german: Bonisbruck) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is known as the home of a Baroque castle owned by the Bánffy family (of which Miklós Bánffy was a member); partly ...
, Borșa, Căianu
Căianu ( hu, Magyarkályán; german: Klandorf) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Bărăi (''Báré''), Căianu, Căianu Mic (''Kiskályán''), Căianu-Vamă (''Kályánivám''), Vaida-Cămăraș ...
, Chinteni
Chinteni ( hu, Kajántó; german: Kallentau) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Chinteni, Deușu (''Diós''), Feiurdeni (''Fejérd''), Măcicașu (''Magyarmacskás''), Pădureni (''Fejérdi fogadók ...
, Ciurila
Ciurila ( hu, Csurulye; german: Schiril) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Ciurila, Filea de Jos (''Alsófüle''), Filea de Sus (''Felsőfüle''), Pădureni (''Magyaróság''), Pruniș (''Magyars ...
, Cojocna
Cojocna ( hu, Kolozs; german: Salzgrub, Klosmarkt) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Boj-Cătun (''Bósi alagút''), Boju (''Kolozsbós''), Cara (''Kolozskara''), Cojocna, Huci (''Cserealja''), Iu ...
, Feleacu
Feleacu ( hu, Erdőfelek; german: Fleck) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, South ...
, Florești, Gârbău, Gilău, Jucu
Jucu ( hu, Zsuk; german: Schucken) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Gădălin (''Kötelend''), Juc-Herghelie (''Zsukiménes''), Jucu de Mijloc (''Nemeszsuk''), commune centre Jucu de Sus (''Fels ...
, Petreștii de Jos
Petreștii de Jos ( hu, Magyarpeterd; german: Ungarisch-Petersdorf) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Crăești (''Pusztaszentkirály''), Deleni (''Indal''), Livada (''Tordaegres''), Petreștii d ...
, Tureni and Vultureni.
The executive presidium of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and all its departments are headquartered in Cluj, as are local and regional organisations of most Romanian political parties. In order to counterbalance the political influence of Transylvania's Hungarian minority, nationalist Romanians in Transylvania founded the Party of Romanian National Unity
The Romanian National Unity Party ( ro, Partidul Unităţii Naţionale a Românilor, PUNR) was a nationalist political party in Romania between 1990 and 2006.
History
The PUNR was the first nationalist party in post-communist Romania, created in ...
(PUNR) at the beginnings of the 1990s; the party was present in the Romanian Parliament during the 1992–1996 legislature. The party eventually moved its main offices to Bucharest and fell into decline as its leadership joined the ideologically similar PRM.[ In 2008, the ''Institute for Research on National Minorities'', subordinated to the Romanian Government, opened its official headquarters in Cluj-Napoca.
Eleven hospitals function in the city, nine of which are run by the county and two (for oncology and cardiology) by the ]health ministry
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entity, Subnational entities, such as State (administrative division), states, county, counties an ...
. Additionally, there are well over a hundred private medical cabinets and dentists' offices each.[ In 2022, work began on an emergency hospital for the entire North-West region; the cost is estimated at over 500 million euros.
]
Justice system
Cluj-Napoca has a complex judicial organisation, as a consequence of its status of county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
capital. The Cluj-Napoca Court of Justice is the local judicial institution and is under the purview of the Cluj County Tribunal, which also exerts its jurisdiction over the courts of Dej
Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...
, Gherla, Turda, and Huedin
Huedin ( hu, Bánffyhunyad, ; german: Heynod; yi, הוניוד or הוניאד) is a town in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania.
Huedin is located at the northern edge of the Apuseni Mountains. It is surrounded by the villages of Nearșova, Dom ...
. Appeals from these tribunals' verdicts, and more serious cases, are directed to the Cluj Court of Appeals. The city also hosts the county's commercial and military tribunals.[
Cluj-Napoca has its own municipal police force, ''Poliția Municipiului Cluj-Napoca'', which is responsible for policing of crime within the whole city, and operates a number of special divisions. The Cluj-Napoca Police are headquartered on Decebal Street in the city centre (with a number of precincts throughout the city) and it is subordinated to the County's Police Inspectorate on Traian Street. City Hall has its own community police force, ''Poliția Primăriei'', dealing with local community issues. Cluj-Napoca also houses the County's Gendarmerie Inspectorate.
]
Crime
Cluj-Napoca and the surrounding area ( Cluj County) had a rate of 268 criminal convictions per 100,000 inhabitants during 2006, just above the national average. After the revolution in 1989, the criminal conviction rate in the county entered a phase of sustained growth, reaching a historic high of 429 in 1998, when it began to fall.[ Although the overall crime rate is reassuringly low, petty crime can be an irritant for foreigners, as in other large cities of Romania. During the 1990s, two large financial institutions, Banca Dacia Felix and Caritas, went bankrupt due to large-scale fraud and embezzlement.
Also notorious was the case of serial killer ]Romulus Vereș
Romulus Vereș (Cluj, January 23, 1929 – Ștei, December 13, 1993) was a notorious serial killer from Romania, better known as "The Man with the Hammer".
During the 1970s, he was charged with five murders and several attempted murders, but ne ...
, "the man with the hammer"; during the 1970s, he was charged with five murders and several attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...
s, but never imprisoned on grounds of insanity: he had schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
, blaming the Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
for his actions. Instead, he was institutionalised in the Ștei psychiatric facility in 1976, following a three-year forensic investigation during which four thousand people were questioned. Urban myth
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
s brought the number of victims up to two hundred women, though the actual number was much smaller. This confusion is probably explained by the lack of attention this case received, despite its magnitude, in the Communist press of the time.
A 2006 poll shows a high degree of satisfaction with the work of the local police department. More than half the people surveyed during a 2005–2006 poll declared themselves satisfied (62.3%) or very satisfied (3.3%) with the activity of the county police department. The study found the highest satisfaction with car traffic supervision, the presence of officers in the street, and road education; on the negative side, corruption and public transport safety remain concerns.
Efforts made by local authorities in the Cluj-Napoca district at the end of the 1990s to reform the protection of children's rights
Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. and assistance for street children
Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policym ...
proved insufficient due to lack of funding, incoherent policies and the absence of any real collaboration between the actors involved (Child Rights Protection Directorate, Social Assistance Service within the District Directorate for Labour and Social Protection, Minors Receiving Centre, Guardian Authority within the City Hall, Police). There are numerous street children, whose poverty and lack of documented identity brings them into constant conflict with local law enforcement.
Following cooperation between the local governmental council and the Prison Fellowship Romania Foundation, homeless
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
people, street children and beggars are taken, identified and accommodated within the Christian Centers for Street Children and Homeless People, respectively, and the Ruhama centre. The latter features a marshaling center for beggars and street children, as well as a flophouse
A flophouse (American English) or dosshouse (British English) is a place that offers very low-cost lodging, providing space to sleep and minimal amenities.
Characteristics
Historically, flophouses, or British "doss-houses", have been used for o ...
. As a consequence, the fluctuating movement of children, beggars and homeless people in and out of the centre has been considerably reduced, with most of the initial beneficiaries successfully integrated into the programme rather than returning to the streets.[
From 2000 onwards, Cluj-Napoca has seen an increase in illegal road races, which occur mainly at night on the city's outskirts or on industrial sites and occasionally produce victims. There have been attempts to organize legal races as a solution to this problem.
]
Demographics
The city's population, at the 2011 census, was 324,576 inhabitants,[ or 1.6% of the total population of Romania. The population of the ]Cluj-Napoca metropolitan area
The Cluj metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in Cluj County, which includes Cluj-Napoca and 19 communes nearby: Aiton, Apahida, Baciu, Bonțida, Borșa, Căianu, Chinteni, Ciurila, Cojocna, Feleacu, Florești, Gilău, Gârbau, Jucu, Petre ...
is estimated at 411,379.[ As defined by ]Eurostat
Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statis ...
, the Cluj-Napoca functional urban area
The larger urban zone (LUZ), or functional urban area (FUA), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zone outside it.
Th ...
has a population of 379,733 residents (). Finally, the population of the peri-urban area numbers over 420,000 residents.[ The new metropolitan government of Cluj-Napoca became operational in December 2008.][ According to the 2007 data provided by the County Population Register Service, the total population of the city is as high as 392,276 people.][ The variation between this number and the census data is partially explained by the real growth of the population residing in Cluj-Napoca, as well as by different counting methods: "In reality, more people live in Cluj than those who are officially registered", Traian Rotariu, director of the Center for Population Studies, told ''Foaia Transilvană''.][ Moreover, this number does not include the floating population—an average of over 20 thousand people each year during 2004–2007, according to the same source.][
In the modern era, Cluj's population experienced two phases of rapid growth, the first in the late 19th century, when the city grew in importance and size, and the second during the Communist period, when a massive urbanisation campaign was launched and many people migrated from rural areas and from beyond the Carpathians to the county's capital. About two-thirds of the population growth during this era was based on ]net migration
Net or net may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence
* Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2
* Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
inflows; after 1966, the date of Ceaușescu's ban on abortion and contraception, natural increase
In Demography, the rate of natural increase (RNI), also known as natural population change, is defined as the birth rate minus the death rate of a particular population, over a particular time period. It is typically expressed either as a number ...
was also significant, being responsible for the remaining third.
From the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
onwards, the city of Cluj has been a multicultural city with a diverse cultural and religious life. According to the 2011 Romanian census, of those for whom data are available, 81.5% of the population of the city are ethnic Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...
, with the second largest ethnic group being the Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
, who make up 16.4% of the population. The remainder is composed of Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
(1.1%), Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
(0.18%), Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
(0.05%), and others (0.7%). (Those for whom data were unavailable accounted for 7.1%.)[ Today, the city receives a large influx of migrants: 25,000 people requested residence in the city during 2007.
In terms of religion, among those for whom there were data, 71.3% of the population in 2011 were Romanian Orthodox and 10.6% were ]Reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
. The Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and the Romanian Greek-Catholic communities claimed 5.0% and 4.7% of the population respectively, while other religious groups like Pentecostals (2.7%), Baptists
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
(1.2%), or Unitarians (1.0%) rounded out most of the rest. (Data were unavailable for 7.9% of inhabitants.) By contrast, in 1930, the city was 26.7% Reformed, 22.6% Greek Catholic, 20.1% Roman Catholic, 13.4% Jewish, 11.8% Orthodox, 2.4% Lutheran and 2.1% Unitarian. Contributing factors for these shifts were the extermination and emigration of the city's Jews, the outlawing of the Greek-Catholic Church (1948–89) and the gradual decline in the Hungarian population.
On a more historical note, the Jewish community has figured centrally in the history of Transylvania, and in that of the wider region.[Brubaker et al. 2006, pp.17–8] They were a substantial and increasingly vibrant presence in Cluj in the modern era, contributing significantly to the town's economic dynamism and cultural flourishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[ Although the community comprised a significant share of the town's population during the interwar era—between 13 and 15 percent—this figure plummeted as a consequence of the ]Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
and emigration; by the 1990s only a few hundred Jews remained in Cluj-Napoca.[
]
In the 14th century, most of the town's inhabitants and the local elite were Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
,[ largely descended from settlers brought in by the Kings of Hungary in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries] to develop and defend the southern borders of the province. By the middle of the next century roughly half the population had Hungarian names. In Transylvania as a whole, the Reformation sharpened ethnic divisions: Saxons became Lutheran while Hungarians either remained Catholic or became Calvinist or Unitarian. In Kolozsvár, however, the religious lines were blurred. Isolated both geographically from the main areas of German settlement in southern Transylvania[ and institutionally because of their distinctive religious trajectory, many Saxons eventually assimilated to the Hungarian majority over several generations. New settlers to the town largely spoke Hungarian, a language that many Saxons gradually adopted.][ (In the seventeenth century, out of more than thirty royal free towns, only seven had a Hungarian majority, with Kolozsvár/Klausenburg being one of them;] the rest were largely German-dominated.[) In this manner Kolozsvár became largely Hungarian speaking and would remain so through the mid-20th century, though 4.8% of its residents identified as German as late as 1880.
The ]Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
form a sizable minority in contemporary Romania, and a small but visible presence in Cluj-Napoca: self-identifying Roma in the city comprise only 1 percent of the population; yet they are a familiar presence in and around the central market, selling flowers, used clothes, and tinware.[ They are an important object of public discourse and media representation at the national level; however, Cluj-Napoca, with its small Roma population, has not been a major focus of Roma ethno-political activity.][
]
Hungarian community
Almost 50,000 Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
live in Cluj-Napoca. The city is home to the second-largest urban Hungarian community in Romania, after Târgu Mureș,[ with an active cultural and academic life: the city features a Hungarian state theatre and ]opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
, as well as Hungarian research institutions, such as ''Erdélyi Múzeumi Egyesület'' (EME), ''Erdélyi Magyar Műszaki Tudományos Társaság'' and ''Bolyai Társaság''. With respect to religious affairs, the city houses central offices for the Reformed
Reform is beneficial change
Reform may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
*''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
Diocese of Transylvania, the Unitarian Diocese and an Evangelical Lutheran Church Diocese (all of which train their clergy at the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj). Several newspapers and magazines are published in the Hungarian language
Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...
, yet the community also receives public and private television and radio broadcasts (see Culture and media). , 7,000 students attended courses in the 55 Hungarian-language specialisations at the Babeș-Bolyai University. Gheorghe Funar, mayor of Cluj-Napoca from 1992 to 2004, was notorious for acts of ethnic provocation, bedecking the city's streets in the colours of the Romanian flag and arranging pickets outside the city's Hungarian consulate; however, tensions have subsided since.[ Since 2010, the ]Hungarian Cultural Days of Cluj
The Hungarian Cultural Days of Cluj ( hu, Kolozsvári Magyar Napok; ro, Zilele Culturale Maghiare din Cluj) is the largest Hungarian festival in Transylvania. It occurs annually on 19 August, being the date when Cluj-Napoca ( hu, Kolozsvár, li ...
festival takes place each summer.
Economy
Cluj-Napoca is an important economic centre in Romania. Local brands that have become well known at a national, and to some extent even international level, include: Banca Transilvania, Terapia Ranbaxy
Terapia S.A. is a Romanian pharmaceutical company founded in 1921. The company is headquartered in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania and has regional centers in Moscow City, Russian Federation and Kiev, Ukraine. The company is part of the multinationa ...
, Farmec, Jolidon
Jolidon is a Romanian lingerie and swim suit manufacturer, founded in 1993 in Cluj-Napoca.
In 1993, an entrepreneur, Gabriel Cîrlig, identifies on the Romanian market an after '89 two types of products that are necessary, but briefly represent ...
, and Ursus
Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to:
Animals
* ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears
People
* Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist
* Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop
* Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr
* Ursus (''praefectus ...
breweries
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
.
The American online magazine '' InformationWeek'' reports that much of the software/ IT activity in Romania is taking place in Cluj-Napoca, which is quickly becoming Romania's technopolis Technopolis or variants may refer to:
*Technopolis or Technology Park are synonyms for science park
*Technopolis (Belgium), a Flemish science center and activity museum in Mechelen, Belgium
*Technopolis (Gazi), a City of Athens enterprise to protec ...
. Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
invested 200 million euros in a mobile telephone factory near Cluj-Napoca; this began production in February 2008 and closed in December 2011. It also opened a research centre in the city that was shut down in April 2011. The former Nokia factory was purchased by Italian appliance manufacturer De'Longhi. The city houses regional or national headquarters of MOL, Aegon, Emerson, De'Longhi, Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...
, FrieslandCampina, Office Depot
The ODP Corporation is an American office supply holding company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 associates with businesses in the United States. ...
, Genpact
Genpact is an American professional services firm legally domiciled in Bermuda with its headquarters in New York City, New York. The company currently employs more than 100,000 people and provides services to clients in over 30 countries worldwid ...
and New Yorker. Bosch has also built a factory near Cluj-Napoca, in the same industrial park as De'Longhi.
Cluj-Napoca is also an important regional commercial centre, with many street malls and hypermarket
A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
s. Eroilor Avenue and Napoca and Memorandumului streets are the most expensive venues, with a yearly rent price of 720 euro/m2, but Regele Ferdinand and 21 Decembrie 1989 avenues also feature high rental costs. There are two large malls: VIVO! (including a Carrefour hypermarket) and Iulius Mall (including an Auchan
Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company.
With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% s ...
hypermarket). Other large stores include branches of various international hypermarket chains, like Cora
Cora may refer to:
Science
* ''Cora'' (fungus), a genus of lichens
* ''Cora'' (damselfly), a genus of damselflies
* CorA metal ion transporter, a Mg2+ influx system
People
* Cora (name), a given name and surname
* Cora E. (born 1968), German hi ...
, Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
, Selgros
Selgros is a cash and carry chain in Europe, owned by Transgourmet Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coop (Switzerland). It started in 1989 as a joint venture between Rewe Group (50%) and Otto Group (50%). In March 2008, Rewe took over 100% ...
and do-it-yourself stores such as Baumax and Praktiker
Praktiker AG was a German hardware store chain which operated in Europe. It was based in Hamburg and opened its first store in 1978 in Luxembourg under the name bâtiself. Initially owned by ASKO, the chain became a division of Metro AG after ...
.
Among the retailers found in the city's shopping centers are H&M, Zara, Guess, Camaïeu, Bigotti, Orsay, Jolidon, Kenvelo, Triumph, Tommy Hilfiger, Sephora, Yves Rocher, Swarovski, Ecco, Bata, Adidas, Converse, and Nike.
In 2021, the city's general budget was 2.117 billion lei, the equivalent of over 433 million Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s. This marks a 114% increase over the 2008 level of 990 million lei or 266 million Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s.
Tourism
In 2007, the hotel industry in the county of Cluj offered total accommodations of 6,472 beds, of which 3,677 were in hotels, 1,294 in guesthouses and the rest in chalets, campgrounds, or hostels. A total of 700,000 visitors, 140,000 of whom were foreigners, stayed overnight.[ However, a considerable share of visits is made by those who visit Cluj-Napoca for a single day, and their exact number is not known. The largest numbers of foreign visitors come from Hungary, Italy, Germany, the United States, France, and Austria.][ Moreover, the city's 140 or so travel agencies help organise domestic and foreign trips; car rentals are also available.]
Arts and culture
Cluj-Napoca has a diverse and growing cultural scene, with cultural life exhibited in a number of fields, including the visual arts
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
, performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
and nightlife. The city's cultural scene spans its history, dating back to Roman times: the city started to be built in that period, which has left its mark on the urban layout (centered on today's Piața Muzeului) as well as surviving ruins. However, the medieval town saw a shift in its centre towards new civil and religious structures, notably St. Michael's Church.
During the 16th century the city became the chief cultural and religious centre of Transylvania; in the 1820s and the first half of the 1830s, Kolozsvár was the most important centre for Hungarian theatre and opera, while at the beginning of the 20th century, still a Hungarian city, it became the chief alternative to the cinematography of Budapest. After its incorporation into the Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...
at the end of World War I, the renamed Cluj saw a resurgence of its Romanian culture, most conspicuous in the completion of the monumental Orthodox cathedral in 1933 across from the (newly nationalised) Romanian National Theatre
The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest.
Founding
It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Gra ...
.[Brubaker et al. 2006, pp.100–101] This marked an unambiguously "Romanian" centre, a few blocks to the east of the old Hungarian centre;[ however, the Romanian-ness of the town—like the Romanian hold on Transylvania—was by no means securely established even by the end of the interwar period.][ The late 1960s brought a revival of nationalist discourse, concomitant with the urbanisation and industrialisation of the city that gradually advanced the ]Romanianisation
Romanianization is the series of policies aimed toward ethnic assimilation implemented by the Romanian authorities during the 20th and 21st century. The most noteworthy policies were those aimed at the Hungarian minority in Romania, Jews and as ...
of the city. Nowadays, the city is home to people of different cultures, with corresponding cultural institutions such as the Hungarian State Theatre, as well as the British Council and various other centres for the promotion of foreign cultures. These institutions hold eclectic manifestations in honour of their cultures, including Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
n, Hungarian, Tunisian, and Japanese. Nevertheless, contemporary cultural manifestations cross ethnic boundaries, being aimed at students, cinephiles, and arts and science lovers, among others.
Landmarks
Cluj-Napoca has a number of landmark buildings and monuments. One of those is the Saint Michael's Church in ''Unirii'' Square, built at the end of the 14th century in the Gothic style
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
of that period. It was only in the 19th century that the Neo-Gothic tower of the church was erected; it remains the tallest church tower in Romania to this day.[Lukács 2005]
In front of the church is the equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus, erected in honour of the locally born King of Hungary. The Orthodox Church's equivalent to St. Michael's Church is the Orthodox Cathedral on ''Avram Iancu'' Square, built in the interwar
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
era. The Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic ( la, Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Romaniae; ro, Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the ...
also has a cathedral in Cluj-Napoca, Transfiguration Cathedral.
Another landmark of Cluj-Napoca is the Palace of Justice, built between 1898 and 1902, and designed by architect Gyula Wagner in an eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
style. This building is part of an ensemble erected in Avram Iancu Square that also includes the National Theatre, the Palace of Căile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...
, the Palace of the Prefecture, the Palace of Finance and the Palace of the Orthodox Metropolis. An important eclectic ensemble is Iuliu Maniu Street, featuring symmetrical buildings on either side, after the urbanistic trend of Georges-Eugène Haussmann.[Lazarovici et al. 1997, p.93 (4.2 Monumente de arhitectură din epoca modernă)] A highlight of the city is the botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, situated in the vicinity of the centre. Beside this garden, Cluj-Napoca is also home to some large parks, the most notable being the Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
with the Chios Casino and a large statuary ensemble. Many of the city's notable figures are buried in Hajongard Cemetery, which covers .
As an important cultural centre, Cluj-Napoca has many theatres and museums. The latter include the National Museum of Transylvanian History
The National Museum of Transylvanian History ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a Transilvaniei, hu, Erdélyi Történelmi Múzeum) is a history and archaeology museum in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It features a permanent exhibition, as w ...
, the Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include:
List by country/region Albania
* Ethnographic Museum of Kavajë,
* Gjirokast ...
, the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, the Pharmacy Museum, the Water Museum and the museums of Babeș-Bolyai University—the University Museum, the Museum of Mineralogy, the Museum of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, the Museum of Speleology, the Botanical Museum and the Zoological Museum.
Visual arts
In terms of visual arts
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
, the city contains a number of galleries featuring both classical and contemporary Romanian art, as well as selected international works.
The National Museum of Art is located in the former palace of the count György Bánffy, the most representative secular construction built in the Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
style in Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
. The museum features extensive collections of Romanian art, including works of artists like Nicolae Grigorescu, Ștefan Luchian and Dimitrie Paciurea, as well as some works of foreign artists like Károly Lotz, Luca Giordano, Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin, Herri met de Bles
Herri met de Bles, also known as Henri Blès, Herri de Dinant, Herry de Patinir, and ''il Civetta'' (c. 1490 – after 1566), was a Flemish Northern Renaissance and Mannerist landscape painter, native of Bouvignes or Dinant (both in present-day B ...
and Claude Michel
Claude Michel (20 December 1738 – 29 March 1814), known as Clodion, was a French sculptor in the Rococo style, especially noted for his works in marble, bronze, & terracotta.
Life
He was born in Nancy to Anne Adam and Thomas Michel, an un ...
, and was nominated to be European Museum of the Year in 1996.
The most notable of the city's other galleries is the ''Gallery of the Union of Plastic Artists''. Situated in the city centre, this gallery presents collections drawn from the contemporary arts scene. The Gallery of Folk Art includes traditional Romanian interior decoration artworks.
Historically, the city was one of the most important cultural and artistic centres in 16th-century Transylvania. The Renaissance workshop, formed in 1530 and strongly supported by the Transylvanian princes, served local and wider requirements: from the middle of the century onwards, when the Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
had conquered
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
central Hungary, it extended its activity throughout the new principality. Its style, the "Flower Renaissance", used a variety of plant ornament enriched with coats of arms, figures and inscriptions. It continued to be of great importance into the 18th century, and traces of it are still apparent in 20th-century vernacular art; Klausenburg was central to the long, anachronistic survival of the style, particularly among Hungarians.[
]
Performing arts
The city has a number of renowned facilities and institutions involving performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
. The most prominent is the Neo-baroque theatre at the Avram Iancu Square. Built at the beginning of the 20th century by the Viennese Viennese may refer to:
* Vienna, the capital of Austria
* Viennese people, List of people from Vienna
* Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna
* Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city
* Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance
* V ...
company Helmer and Fellner, this structure is inscribed in UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's list of specially protected monuments. Since 1919, shortly after the union of Transylvania with Romania, the building has hosted the Lucian Blaga National Theatre and the Romanian National Opera. The Transylvania Philharmonic, founded in 1955, gives classical music concerts. The multiculturalism in the city is once again attested by the Hungarian Theatre and Opera, home for four professional groups of performers. There is also a number of smaller independent theatres, including the Puck Theatre, where puppet shows are performed.
Music and nightlife
Cluj-Napoca is the residence of some well-known Romanian musicians. Examples of homegrown bands include the Romanian alternative rock band Kumm
KUMM (89.7 FM, "U-90") is an American non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve the community of Morris, the county seat of Stevens County, Minnesota. Established in 1970, the station is owned and operated by the University of ...
, the rock band Compact
Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:
* Interstate compact
* Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines
* Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...
, the rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
band Nightlosers, the alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
band Luna Amară
Luna Amară is a Romanian rock band from Cluj-Napoca . The band, which was founded in 1999 under the name Tanagra Noise, consists of Mihnea Blidariu (lead vocals, trumpet, rhythm guitar), Nick Făgădar (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Sorin Moraru ...
, Grimus
''Grimus'' is a 1975 fantasy and science fiction novel by Salman Rushdie. It was his literary debut.
The story loosely follows Flapping Eagle, a young Native American man who receives the gift of immortality by drinking a magic fluid. Thereaf ...
—the winners of the 2007 National Finals of Global Battle of the Bands
The Global Battle of the Bands (GBOB) is a live music competition joined by bands from all continents around the world. It is open to amateur/professional bands of all music genres and ages; there are only two main prerequisites to joining: no cove ...
, the modern pop band Sistem
"Let Me Try" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Luminița Anghel and Romanian percussion band Sistem, consisting of Toth Zoltan, Mihai Ciprian Rogojan, Claudiu Purcărin, Robert Magheti and Florin Cătălin Romașcu. It was released as a CD s ...
—which finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, as well as a large assortment of electronic music producers, notably Horace Dan D. The Cheeky Girls also grew up in the city, where they studied at the High School of Choreography and Dramatic Art. While many discos
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s in music, 1970s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor (music), four-on-the-floor beats, syncop ...
play commercial house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
, the city has an increasing minimal techno
Minimal techno is a subgenre of techno music. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition and understated development. Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detro ...
scene, and, to an extent jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
/blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and heavy metal/ punk. The city's nightlife, particularly its club scene, grew significantly in the 1990s, and continues to increase. Most entertainment venues are dispersed throughout the city centre, spreading from the oldest one of all, ''Diesel Club'', on Unirii Square. The list of large and fancy clubs continues with ''Obsession The Club'' and ''Midi'', the latter being a venue for the new minimal techno music genre. These three clubs are classified as the top three clubs in the Transylvania-Banat region in a chart published by the national daily '' România Liberă''.[ The Unirii area also features the ''Fashion Bar'', with an exclusive terrace sponsored by Fashion TV. Some other clubs in the centre are Aftereight, Avenue, Bamboo, Decadence, Kharma and Molotov Pub. Numerous restaurants, pizzerias and coffee shops provide regional as well as international cuisine; many of these offer cultural activities like music and fashion shows or art exhibitions.][
The city also includes ]Strada Piezișă
Strada is a chain based in the United Kingdom of branded restaurants specialising in Italian cuisine with two Strada sites and six Coppa Clubs, all in Southern England.
History
The concept was spawned by Luke Johnson in 2000 and, over five y ...
(''slanted street''), a central nightlife strip located in the Hașdeu student area, where a large number of bars and terraces are situated. Cluj-Napoca is not limited to these international music genres, as there are also a number of discos
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s in music, 1970s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor (music), four-on-the-floor beats, syncop ...
where local "Lăutari
The Romanian word lăutar (; plural: ''lăutari'') denotes a class of musicians.
The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of Romani musicians in the late XVIII century. The term is derived from ''lăută'', the Romanian word for ...
" play manele, a Turkish-influenced type of music.
Traditional culture
In spite of the influences of modern culture, traditional Romanian culture continues to influence various domains of art.
Cluj-Napoca hosts an ethnographic museum, the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, which features a large indoor collection of traditional cultural objects, as well as an open-air park, the oldest of this kind in Romania, dating back to 1929.
The National Museum of Transylvanian History
The National Museum of Transylvanian History ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a Transilvaniei, hu, Erdélyi Történelmi Múzeum) is a history and archaeology museum in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It features a permanent exhibition, as w ...
is another important museum in Cluj-Napoca, containing a collection of artefacts detailing Romanian history and culture from prehistoric times, the Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
n era, medieval times and the modern era. Moreover, the city also preserves a Historic Collection of the Pharmacy, in the building of its first pharmacy (16th century), the Hintz House.[
]
Cultural events and festivals
Cluj-Napoca hosts a number of cultural festivals of various types. These occur throughout the year, though are more frequent in the summer months. "Sărbătoarea Muzicii" (Fête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day, citizens and residents are urged to play music outside in their neighborho ...
) is a music festival taking place yearly on 21 June in a number of Romanian cities, Cluj-Napoca included, organised under the aegis of the French Cultural Centre. Additionally, Splaiul Independenței, on the banks of Someșul Mic, hosts a number of beer festivals throughout the summer, among them the " Septemberfest", modelled after the German Oktoberfest. In 2015, the city will be the European Youth Capital
Turin (2010)
Antwerp (2011)
Braga (2012)
Maribor (2013)
Thessaloniki (2014)
Ganja (2016)
The 'European Youth Capital'' (abbreviated EYC) is the title awarded by the European Youth Forum to a European city, designed to empower ...
, an event with a budget of 5.7 million euros that is projected to boost tourism by about a fifth.
The city has seen a number of important music events, including the MTV România Music Award ceremony which was held at the Sala Sporturilor Horia Demian in 2006 with the Sugababes, Pachanga and Uniting Nations
Uniting Nations are a British dance music act formed in Liverpool in 2004. They achieved chart success across Europe. The act was originally made up of Paul Keenan and Daz Sampson as band members, songwriters and producers. After their 2005 hi ...
as special international guests. In 2007, Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
also performed in Cluj-Napoca, at the Ion Moina Stadium. In 2010, Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
included the city in their Final Frontier World Tour. The Cluj Arena
Cluj Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It serves as the home of FC Universitatea Cluj, Universitatea Cluj of the Liga II and was completed on 1 October 2011. It is also the home of the Untold Festival. The facility, owne ...
was inaugurated in 2011 with concerts by Scorpions and Smokie, the main event drawing over 40,000 people; other events followed, for instance Roxette
Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...
in 2012 and Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
in 2013. Smaller events occur regularly at the Polyvalent Hall, the Opera and the Students' House of Culture. Moreover, the local clubs regularly organise events featuring international artists, usually foreign disc jockeys, like André Tanneberger, Sasha, Timo Maas, Tania Vulcano, Satoshi Tomiie, Yves Larock, Dave Seaman, Plump DJs
Plump DJs are an English dance music duo consisting of Lee Rous and Andy Gardner, considered to be early pioneers of the breakbeat genre in late 1990s. Throughout the 2000s, they have been very prolific creatively, releasing many celebrated und ...
, Stephane K or Andy Fletcher.
The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), held in the city since 2001 and organised by the Association for the Promotion of the Romanian Film, is the first Romanian film festival for international features. The festival jury awards the Transilvania Trophy for the best film in competition, as well as prizes for best director, best performance and best photography. With the support of Home Box Office
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, TIFF also organises a national script contest. Comedy Cluj
Comedy Cluj is an international film festival of comedy film organized annually in October in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania.
History
The first edition of ''Comedy Cluj'' was held in 2009 and comprised 70 films coming from 19 countries, as ...
, which debuted in 2009, is the newest annual film festival organised in Cluj-Napoca.
Toamna Muzicală Clujeană Toamna Muzicală Clujeană (Romanian for ''Cluj Musical Autumn'') is a classical music festival organised since 1965, by the Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyl ...
, Romania's most important classical music event after the George Enescu Festival, has taken place annually since 1965, and is run by the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra. A Mozart Festival has taken place annually since 1991. Another annual event, taking place at the Romanian National Opera, is the Opera Ball, established in 1992. Additionally, in 2012, a Festival of National Operas was introduced, which aside from the hometown troupe, also features opera companies from Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
and Timișoara. The Interferences International Theatre Festival, started in 2007, takes place at the Hungarian Theatre.
Also held in the city is Delahoya, Romania's oldest electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
festival, established in 1997. Electric Castle Festival
Electric Castle is an annual music festival held on the Transylvanian domain of the Bánffy Castle, near Cluj-Napoca in Romania, and combines music, technology and alternative arts. It features many genres of music including rock, indie, hip hop ...
, which takes place at Bánffy Castle in nearby Bonțida
Bonțida (; hu, Bonchida, , transl. "Bonc's bridge"; german: Bonisbruck) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is known as the home of a Baroque castle owned by the Bánffy family (of which Miklós Bánffy was a member); partly ...
, had an audience of over 30,000 people for its first edition in 2013 and was nominated by European Festivals Awards The European Festival Awards were initiated in 2010 by the European festival association Yourope and the festival website Virtual Festivals Europe. The awards are presented annually in January of the following year at the European music conference ...
for the Best New Festival and Best Medium Size Festival awards. By 2016, over 120,000 were in attendance. Untold Festival
Untold Festival is the largest electronic music festival held in Romania, taking place in Cluj-Napoca at the Cluj Arena. It is held annually and has been designated Best Major Festival in the European Festival Awards 2015. Guests come from a vas ...
, which began in 2015, is Romania's largest music festival. Held mainly in the Cluj Arena
Cluj Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It serves as the home of FC Universitatea Cluj, Universitatea Cluj of the Liga II and was completed on 1 October 2011. It is also the home of the Untold Festival. The facility, owne ...
, and also at the Polyvalent Hall, it drew over 300,000 in its second edition.
Architecture
Cluj-Napoca's salient architecture is primarily Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
and Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
. The modern era has also produced a remarkable set of buildings from the mid-century style. The mostly utilitarian Communist-era architecture is also present, although only to a certain extent, as Cluj-Napoca never faced a large systematisation programme. Of late, the city has seen significant growth in contemporary structures such as skyscrapers and office buildings, mainly constructed after 2000.
Historical architecture
The nucleus of the old city, an important cultural and commercial centre, used to be a military camp, attested in documents with the name "castrum Clus".
The oldest residence in Cluj-Napoca is the Matthias Corvinus House
The Matthias Corvinus House (Romanian: ''Casa Matia'', hu, Mátyás király szülőháza) is one of the oldest buildings in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania. It was built in the 15th century, in the gothic style, as a small guesthouse. During ...
, originally a Gothic structure that bears Transylvanian Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
characteristics due to a later renovation. Such changes feature on other Hungarian townspeople's residences, built from the mid-15th century mostly of stone and wood with a cellar, ground floor and upper storey, in the Late Gothic and Renaissance styles; although the late medieval houses have often been considerably altered, the street façades of the old town are mostly preserved. St. Michael's Church, the oldest and most representative Gothic-style building in the country, dates back to the 14th century. The oldest of its sections is the altar, dedicated in 1390, while the newest part is the clock tower, which was built in Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style (1860).[
As Renaissance styles survived late in the city, the appearance of Baroque art was also delayed, but from the mid-18th century Klausenburg was once again at the centre of the development and spread of art in Transylvania, as it had been two centuries earlier. The first enthusiasts for Baroque were the Catholic Church and the landed aristocracy. Artists came initially from south Germany and Austria, but by the end of the century most of the work was by local craftsmen. The earliest signs of the new style appear in the furnishings of St. Michael's church: the altarpieces and pulpit, which date to the 1740s, are carved, painted and richly decorated with figures. An altarpiece depicting the '']Adoration of the Magi
The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...
'' (1748–50) is the work of Franz Anton Maulbertsch
Franz Anton Maulbertsch (7 June 1724 – 8 August 1796) was an Austrian painter and engraver, one of the most renowned exponents of Rococo painting in the German and Hungarian regions.
Maulbertsch was born in Langenargen and studied in the Aca ...
. The earliest two-towered Baroque church was built by the Jesuits from 1718 to 1724 on the pattern of Košice
Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...
and was later handed over to the Piarists. During the century more simply designed Baroque churches were built for the mendicant orders, Lutherans, Unitarians and the Orthodox Church. The noble families built houses and even palaces in the old town.[ The Baroque Bánffy Palace (1774–1785), constructed around a rectangular yard, is the masterpiece of Eberhardt Blaumann. Its peculiarity lies in the appearance of the principal façade.][
Both ]Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu (; hu, Janku Ábrahám; 1824 – September 10, 1872) was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848–1849. He was especially active in the Țara Mo ...
and Unrii Squares feature ensembles of eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
and baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
–rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
architecture, including the Palace of Justice,[ the ]Theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
,[ the Iuliu Maniu symmetrical street,][ and the New York Palace, among others. In the 19th century many houses were built in the Neo-classical, Romantic and Eclectic styles. Also dating to that period are the two-towered Neo-classical Calvinist church (1829–50), its new college building of 1801, and the City Hall (1843–46) in the marketplace, by ]Antal Kagerbauer
Antal Kagerbauer (born as Anton Kagerbauer; 5 July 1814 – 8 October 1872) was a Transylvanian Hungarian-German architect who worked in Cluj during the mid-nineteenth century.
Kagerbauer studied under György Winkler in the city of Cluj
...
.[
The banks of the Someșul Mic also feature a wide variety of such old buildings. The end of the 19th century brought a building ensemble that fastens the corners of the oldest bridge over the river, at the north end of the Regele Ferdinand Avenue. The Berde, Babos, Elian, Urania, and Széki palaces consist of a mixture of Baroque, Renaissance and Gothic styles, following the ]Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
/Secession and Revival specifics.
In the 2000s, the old city centre underwent extensive restoration works, meant to convert much of it into a pedestrian area, including Bulevardul Eroilor, Unirii Square and other smaller streets. In some residential areas of the city, particularly the high-income southern areas, like ''Andrei Mureșanu'' or ''Strada Republicii'', there are many turn-of-the-century
Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a distinctive time period either before or after the beginning of a century or both before and after.
Ac ...
villas.
Modern and Communist architecture
Part of Cluj-Napoca's architecture is made up of buildings constructed during the Communist era, when historical architecture was replaced with "more efficient" high-density apartment blocks. Nicolae Ceaușescu's project of systematisation did not really affect the heart of the city, instead reaching the marginal, shoddily built districts surrounding it.[
Still, the centre hosts some examples of modern architecture dating back to the Communist era. The Hungarian Theatre building was erected at the beginning of the 20th century, but underwent an avant-garde renovation in 1961, when it acquired a modernist style of architecture. Another example of modernist architectural art is ''Palatul Telefoanelor'', situated in the vicinity of ]Mihai Viteazul
Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...
Square, an area that also features a complex of large apartment buildings.
Some outer districts, especially Mănăștur
Mănăștur ( hu, Kolozsmonostor; german: Abtsdorf) is a district of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, which has been a part of the city since 1895.
Its population as of 2007 was of approximately 126,600.
History Middle Ages
Mănăștur is ho ...
, and to a certain extent Gheorgheni and Grigorescu, consist mainly of such large apartment ensembles.[
]
Contemporary architecture
Since 1989, modern skyscrapers and glass-fronted buildings have altered the skyline of Cluj-Napoca. Buildings from this time are mostly made out of glass and steel, and are usually high-rise. Examples include shopping malls (particularly the Iulius Mall), office buildings and bank headquarters. Of this last, regional headquarters of the Banca Română pentru Dezvoltare is the tallest office building in Cluj-Napoca, with . Its twelve storeys were completed in 1997 after 4 years of work and house offices for the bank and for divisions of several other companies, including insurance and oil companies.
Another architecturally
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
interesting building is the so-called "Clădirea biscuite" (''the biscuit building''). This building was supposed to house the local headquarters of the Banca Agricolă (Agricultural Bank), but entered in the custody of the city due to the failure of that bank in the 1990s and its subsequent purchase by the Raiffeisen Bank Raiffeisenbank refers to cooperative banks in Europe that are rooted in the early credit unions of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen. The name is found in:
* Raiffeisen Bankengruppe (Austria), Austrian group of cooperative banks.
** Raiffeisen Zentralba ...
, to be eventually converted in an office building.
The headquarters of Banca Transilvania, at the intersection of Regele Ferdinand Avenue and Barițiu Street, is also a large contemporary building and was originally constructed to host the regional offices of Romtelecom
Telekom Romania Communications (formerly known as Romtelecom) is a Romanian telecommunications company, which provides fixed voice, television and data services, for residential and business customers in Romania. As of 2020, Telekom Romania Commun ...
, the public phone company, but was later sold to the bank.
Cluj-Napoca is undergoing a period of architectural revitalisation that is set to bring the manner of expansion to the vertical. A financial centre
A financial centre ( BE), financial center ( AE), or financial hub, is a location with a concentration of participants in banking, asset management, insurance or financial markets with venues and supporting services for these activities to ta ...
, containing a tower of 15 storeys, is slated for completion in 2010 on Ploiești Street. Two 35-storey twin towers are projected to be constructed in the Sigma area in Zorilor, while the Florești area will host a complex of three towers with 32 levels each. As of February 2020, the aforementioned projects were never completed or were postponed indefinitely.
Transport
Cluj-Napoca has a complex system of regional transportation, providing road, air and rail connections to major cities in Romania and Europe. It also features a public transportation system consisting of bus, trolleybus and tram lines.
Road
Cluj-Napoca is an important node in the European road network, being on three different European routes ( E60, E81 and E576). At a national level, Cluj-Napoca is located on three different main national roads: DN1
DN1 ( ro, Drumul Național 1) is an important national road in Romania which links Bucharest with the northwestern part of the country and the border with Hungary via Borș. The main cities linked by DN1 are Bucharest, Ploiești, Brașov, Sibiu, ...
, DN1C and DN1F. The Romanian Motorway A3, also known as ''Transylvania Motorway'' (''Autostrada Transilvania''), currently under construction, will link the city with Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
and Romania's western border. The 2B section between Câmpia Turzii and Cluj Vest ( Gilău) opened in late 2010. The Cluj-Napoca Coach Station (''Autogara'') is used by several private transport companies to provide coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
connections from Cluj-Napoca to a large number of locations from all over the country.
The number of automobiles licensed in Cluj-Napoca is estimated at 175,000. , Cluj County ranks sixth nationwide according to the cars sold during that year, with 12,679 units, corresponding to a four percent share. One tenth of these cars were limousines or SUVs. Some 3,300 taxis are also licensed to operate in Cluj-Napoca.
Air
The Cluj-Napoca International Airport
Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport is an airport serving the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Initially known as ''Someșeni Airport'', it is located east of the city centre, in the Someșeni area, which is now within the Cluj-Napoca city li ...
(CLJ), located to the east of the city centre, is the second busiest airport in Romania, after Bucharest's OTP, handling over 1.4 million passengers in 2015. Situated on the European route E576 (Cluj-Napoca–Dej
Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...
), the airport is connected to the city centre by the local public transport company, CTP, bus number 8 and trolley number 5. The airport serves various direct international destinations across Europe. In 2016, a 42 m-high control tower will be inaugurated on the site of the old tower, built in the 1960s. The new control tower will be one of the most modern in the country.
Rail
Cluj-Napoca Rail Station, located about north of the city centre, is situated on the CFR-Romanian Railways Main Line 300 (Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
– Oradea
Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...
– Romanian Western Border) and on Line 401 (Cluj-Napoca – Dej
Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...
). CFR provides direct rail connections to all the major Romanian cities and to Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. The rail station is very well connected to all parts of the city by the trams, trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es and buses of the local public transport company, CTP.
The city is also served by two other secondary rail stations, the ''Little Station'' (''Gara Mică''), which is technically part of and situated immediately near the main station, and ''Cluj-Napoca East'' (''Est''). There is also a cargo station, ''Halta "Clujana"''.
Trams, trolleybusses and buses
CTP, the local public transport company, runs an extensive public transport network within the city using 3 tram lines, 6 trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
lines and 21 bus routes.[ Transport in the Cluj-Napoca metropolitan area is also covered by a number of private bus companies, such as Fany and MV Trans 2007, providing connections to neighboring towns and villages.
]
Trams
The local transportation company, CTP, manages a tram line that runs through the city. Planned modernisation will involve the installation of new rail tracks and the separation of the tram route from road traffic. This will bring a number of advantages, including vibration and shock reduction, a substantial noise decrease, long use expectancy and higher transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
speed – . The route will undergo major alteration on Horea Street, between the Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
and the central rail station, a rather problematic area. This dilemma should be solved either with the relocation of the track next to the sidewalk, or through the construction of a suspended tunnel. Another area that will benefit from large-scale changes is "Splaiul Independenței", where the tracks will be pulled back to the Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
, so that the roadway can host two lanes. In the Mănăștur area, under the bridge, the tracks will be brought closer, while other major works will executed on the traffic circle on Primăverii Street. Given the development of the metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
, further plans feature the creation of a light rail track between Gilău and Jucu
Jucu ( hu, Zsuk; german: Schucken) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Gădălin (''Kötelend''), Juc-Herghelie (''Zsukiménes''), Jucu de Mijloc (''Nemeszsuk''), commune centre Jucu de Sus (''Fels ...
that will use these modernised tracks in the city.
Metro
In late 2018 studies began for a proposed Cluj-Napoca Metro
The Cluj-Napoca Metro is a planned rapid transit system for the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. If built, it will become Romania's second mass transit network after the Bucharest Metro. The proposed system is of light metro type with a transport ca ...
, continuing into 2020.
Culture and media
Cluj-Napoca is an important centre for Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
n mass media, since it is the headquarters of all regional television networks, newspapers and radio stations. The largest daily newspapers published in Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
are usually reissued from Cluj-Napoca in a regional version, covering Transylvanian issues. Such newspapers include '' România Liberă'', ''Gardianul
''Gardianul'' ("The Guardian") was a Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest. It claimed to have had an anti-corruption stance, investigating organized crime and high-level corruption.
The newspaper was founded in 2002 by Şerban Roibu, t ...
'', ''Ziarul Financiar
''Ziarul Financiar'' is a daily financial newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania. Aside from business information, it features sections focusing on careers and properties, as well as a special Sunday newspaper. ''Ziarul Financiar'' also publish ...
'', ''ProSport
''ProSport'' was a daily Romanian newspaper, the country's second largest and most read sports-related publication after '' Gazeta Sporturilor''. It was owned by the PubliMedia International. It was launched in July 1997 by the Media Pro, the big ...
'' and ''Gazeta Sporturilor
''Gazeta Sporturilor'' ( en, The Sports Gazette) is a daily Romanian newspaper, and the country's largest and most read sports-related publication. It is owned by Ringier Sportal S.R.L—a joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian ...
''. Ringier edited a regional version of '' Evenimentul Zilei'' in Cluj-Napoca until 2008, when it decided to close this enterprise.
Apart from the regional editions, which are distributed throughout Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, the national newspaper '' Ziua'' also runs a local franchise, ''Ziua de Cluj'', that acts as a local daily, available only within city limits. Cluj-Napoca also boasts other newspapers of local interest, like ''Făclia
''Făclia'' (''The Torch'' in English) (between 1989 and 2007 ''Adevărul de Cluj'') is a daily newspaper published in Cluj-Napoca. The paper was among the official publications of the Cluj Region People Council and Party Committee during the comm ...
'' and ''Monitorul de Cluj
''Monitorul de Cluj'' is a Romanian language
Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority ...
'', as well as two free dailies, '' Informația Cluj'' and '' Cluj Expres''. '' Clujeanul'', the first of a series of local weeklies edited by the media trust CME, is one of the largest newspapers in Transylvania, with an audience of 53,000 readers per edition. This weekly has a daily online version, entitled ''Clujeanul, ediție online'', updated on a real-time basis. Cluj-Napoca is also the centre of the Romanian Hungarian language
Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...
press. The city hosts the editorial offices of the two largest newspapers of this kind, ''Krónika
Krónika ( en, Chronicle) is the sole Hungarian-language Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hun ...
'' and ''Szabadság
Szabadság (''Freedom'') is a Hungarian-language local daily newspaper published in Cluj-Napoca (''Kolozsvár''), Romania. Its average circulation is about 7,000-8,000 copies a day, with a readership up to 40,000 readers.
Overview
The news ...
'', as well as those of the magazines ''Erdélyi Napló ''Erdélyi Napló'' (“Transylvanian Journal”) is a Hungarian language right-wing weekly published in Cluj-Napoca, and distributed regionally throughout Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a his ...
'' and ''Korunk ''Korunk'' (meaning ''Our Age'' in English) is a Hungarian language monthly cultural-literary-scientific magazine published in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
History and profile
''Korunk'' was founded by László Dienes in Cluj-Napoca in 1926. The magazine ...
''. ''Săptămâna Clujeană
''Săptămâna Clujeană'' is a Romanian language
Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minor ...
'' is an economic weekly published in the city, that also issues two magazines on successful local people and companies (''Oameni de Succes'' and ''Companii de Succes'') every year, while '' Piața A-Z'' is a newspaper for announcements and advertisements distributed throughout Transylvania. Cluj had an active press in the interwar period as well: publications included the Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
newspaper '' Új Kelet'', the official party organs ''Keleti Újság'' (for the Magyar Party) and ''Patria'' (for the National Peasants' Party); and the nationalist ''Conștiința Românească'' and ''Țara Noastră'', the latter a magazine directed by Octavian Goga. Under Communism, publications included the socio-political and literary magazines ''Tribuna'', ''Steaua'', ''Utunk'', ''Korunk'', ''Napsugár'' and ''Előre'' as well as the regional Communist party daily organs ''Făclia'' and ''Igazság'' and the trilingual student magazine ''Echinox''.
Among the local television stations in the city, '' TVR Cluj'' (public) and '' One TV'' (private) broadcast regionally, while the others are restricted to the metropolitan area. ''Napoca Cable Network
Clever Group (formerly Clever Media Network) is one of the largest players in the Romanian media market, its complete portfolio includes 11 TV channels (Prima TV
Prima TV () is a Romanian commercial TV channel, famous mainly for the '' Cron ...
'' is available through cable, and broadcasts local content throughout the day. Other stations work as affiliates of national TV stations, only providing the audience with local reports in addition to the national programming. This situation is mirrored in the radio broadcasting companies: except for ''Radio Cluj
Radio Cluj is a Romanian public radio station from Cluj-Napoca, broadcasting throughout Transylvania. It features Romanian and Hungarian language programmes.
References
External links
*
Article about Radio Cluj
Mass media in Cluj-Napoca ...
'', '' Radio Impuls'' and the Hungarian-language ''Paprika Rádió
Paprika Rádió is a Hungarian language radio station broadcasting in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southea ...
'', all other stations are local affiliates of the national broadcasters. ''Casa Radio'', situated on Donath Street, is one of the modern landmarks of the media and communications industry; it is, however, not the only one: Palatul Telefoanelor, Cluj-Napoca, Palatul Telefoanelor ("the telephone palace") is also a major modernist symbol of communications in the city centre.
Magazines published in Cluj-Napoca include ''HR Journal'', a publication discussing human resources issues, ''J'Adore (magazine), J'Adore'', a local shopping magazine that is also franchised in Bucharest, ''Maximum Rock Magazine'', dealing with the rock music industry, ''RDV'', a national hunting publication and ''Cluj-Napoca WWW'', an English-language magazine designed for tourists. Cultural and social events as well as all other entertainment sources are the leading subjects of such magazines as ''Șapte Seri'' and ''CJ24FUN''.
In the early 20th century, film production in Kolozsvár, led by Jenő Janovics, was the chief alternative to Budapest.[ The first film made in the city, in association with the Parisian producer Pathé, was ''Sárga csikó'' ("Yellow Foal", 1912), based on a popular "peasant drama". ''Yellow Foal'' became the first worldwide Hungarian success, distributed abroad under the title ''The Secret of the Blind Man'': 137 prints were sold internationally and the movie was even screened in Japan.][
The first artistically prestigious film in the annals of Hungarian cinematography was also produced on this site, based on a national classic, ''Bánk bán'' (1914), a tragedy written by József Katona.][
Later, the city was the production site of the 1991 Romanian drama ''Undeva în Est'' ("Somewhere in the East"), and the 1995 Hungarian language film ''The Outpost (1995 film), A Részleg'' ("Outpost"). Moreover, the Romanian-language film ''Cartier'' ("Neighbourhood", 2001) and its sequel ''Înapoi în cartier'' ("Back to the Neighbourhood", 2006) both feature a story replete with violence and rude language, behind the blocks in the city's ]Mănăștur
Mănăștur ( hu, Kolozsmonostor; german: Abtsdorf) is a district of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, which has been a part of the city since 1895.
Its population as of 2007 was of approximately 126,600.
History Middle Ages
Mănăștur is ho ...
district. This district is also mentioned in the lyrics to the song ''Înapoi în cartier'' by La Familia (rap group), La Familia member Puya, featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture.
Documentary and mockumentary productions set in the city include Irshad Ashraf's ''St. Richard of Austin'', a tribute to the American film director Richard Linklater, and ''Cluj-Napocolonia'', a mockumentary imagining a fabulous city of the future.
Education
Higher education has a long tradition in Cluj-Napoca. The Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) is the largest in the country, with approximately 50,000 students attending various specialisations in Romanian language, Romanian, Hungarian language, Hungarian, German and English. Its name commemorates two important Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
n figures, the Romanian physician Victor Babeș and the Hungarian mathematician János Bolyai. The university claims roots as far back as 1581, when a Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
college opened in Cluj, but it was in 1872 that emperor Franz Joseph founded the University of Cluj, later renamed the ''Franz Joseph University'' (József Ferenc Tudományegyetem). During 1919, immediately after the end of World War I, the university was moved to Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, where it stayed until 1921, after which it was moved to the Hungarian city of Szeged. Briefly, it returned to Cluj in the first half of the 1940s, when the city came back under Hungarian administration, but it was again relocated in Szeged, following the reincorporation of Cluj into Romanian territory. The Romanian branch acquired the name ''Babeș''; a Hungarian university, ''Bolyai'', was established in 1945, and the two were merged in 1959. The city also hosts nine other universities, among them the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Technical University, the Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca (USAMV), the Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca, University of Arts and Design, the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy and other private universities and educational institutes.
The first mention of public education provided in the city dates back to 1409, namely the caption "Caspar notarius et rector scholarum" ("Caspar secretary and director of schools"). Concomitantly, a Roman Catholic Church, Catholic school founded during the 14th century also functioned in the city.[
Today close to 150 pre-university educational institutions operate in Cluj-Napoca, including 62 kindergartens, 30 primary schools and 45 high schools.][ Their activity is supervised by the County Board for Education. Most schools are taught in Romanian language, Romanian; nonetheless, there are some Hungarian language, Hungarian-language schools (Báthory István, Apáczai Csere János and Brassai Sámuel high schools), as well as mixed schools—e.g., George Coșbuc and Onisifor Ghibu high schools with Romanian/German classes and Romanian/Hungarian classes, respectively. Statistics show that 18,208 students were enrolled in the city's secondary school system during the 1993–94 school year, while a further 7,660 attended one of the 18 professional schools.] In the same year, another 37,111 pupils and 9,711 children were registered for primary and pre-school, respectively.[
]
Sports
Association football, Football in the city features four clubs playing in the leagues organised by the Romanian Football Federation, in Liga I, Liga 1—formerly Divizia A—the top division in the Romanian football association, liga II and liga III.
CFR Cluj, CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca (founded in 1907) is the one of the oldest established teams in the Romanian Championship. It has eight Romanian championship titles 2007–08 Liga I, 2008, 2009–10 Liga I, 2010, 2011–12 Liga I, 2012, 2017–18 Liga I, 2018, 2018–19 Liga I, 2019, 2019-20 Liga I, 2020, 2020-21 Liga I, 2021, 2021-22 Liga I, 2022 and four Romanian Cups 2015–16 Cupa României, 2008, 2015–16 Cupa României, 2009, 2015–16 Cupa României, 2010, and 2015–16 Cupa României, 2016 as well as four Supercupa Romaniei in 2009 Supercupa României, 2009, 2010 Supercupa României, 2010, 2018 Supercupa României, 2018, and 2020 Supercupa României, 2020. It succeeded in winning a league and cup Double (association football), double first time in its history during Liga I 2007–08, 2007–2008 season and again in the Liga I 2009–10, 2009–2010 season.
The FC Universitatea Cluj football team was founded in 1919, and its greatest success ever was the 1965 Romanian Cup. They were also the runner-ups in liga I in the 1932-33 Divizia A, 1932-1933 season and in Cupa Ligii in 1998 Cupa Ligii, 1998.
The city is also represented in the Liga III, third league, through CS Sănătatea Cluj-Napoca, founded in 1986. This team, which has the Victoria Someșeni Stadium as its home ground, reached the quarter-finals of the Romanian Cup during the 2007–2008 season, its best performance.
FCU Olimpia Cluj is the local women's soccer team, established in 2010 by Babeș-Bolyai University. The team won the Liga I 10 times, and Romanian Cup 6 times.
Cluj Arena
Cluj Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It serves as the home of FC Universitatea Cluj, Universitatea Cluj of the Liga II and was completed on 1 October 2011. It is also the home of the Untold Festival. The facility, owne ...
, home ground of "U" Cluj, is the largest stadium in Cluj-Napoca (capacity 30,201), and is ranked as an UEFA Elite stadium. The next largest stadium (23,500 seats) is the Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu, Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium, home field of the CFR Cluj football team, located in Gruia. This stadium has undergone major refurbishment, featuring up-to-date lighting for night games and automated lawn irrigation, and is due to undergo still further modernisation with the construction of new seating.
"Universitatea" club also incorporates teams in sports such as rugby union, basketball (with the successful men's basketball team, U Mobitelco Cluj, U Mobitelco), team handball, handball and volleyball. The city also features three water polo teams, as recognised by the Romanian Water Polo Federation: CSS Viitorul, CS Voința and Poli CSM. Facilities for such sports are located in the vicinity of the stadium, including BT Arena sports hall opened in 2014 with a capacity of 9300 seats(10000 during concerts),the Sala Sporturilor Horia Demian, a multi-functional hall designed for sports like team handball, handball, basketball or volleyball, the Politehnica Swimming Complex, which includes indoor and open-air swimming pools, as well as the Iuliu Hațieganu
Iuliu Hațieganu (April 14, 1885 – September 4, 1959) was a Romanian internist doctor particularly recognized for research done in the field of tuberculosis. He founded in Cluj a valuable school of internal medicine. Today, Cluj University of ...
Park – with tennis and track facilities and a new swimming pool under construction. Cluj-Napoca regularly organises national championships in different sports because of this large concentration of facilities.
In the automotive field, Cluj-Napoca hosts two stages in the National Rally Championship. ''Raliul Clujului'' is held in June; the ''Avram Iancu'' Rally, held in September, has been officially organised since 1975, though there were several years when it was not held. The latter rally begins in Cipariu Square and runs across the surroundings of the city.
Amateur athletes are also active in Cluj-Napoca, with swimming pools, miniature golf courses, tennis courts, paintball arenas and bikeways available, as well as skiing, bobsledding, skating, caving, hiking, hunting, fishing and extreme sports in the vicinity. April 2011 saw the first annual edition of the ''Cluj International Marathon'', a competition that takes place in the city center's streets.
Twin towns – sister cities
Cluj-Napoca is Sister city, twinned with:
* Dijon, France (1965)
* Nantes, France (1990)
* Zagreb, Croatia (1976)
* Cologne, Germany (1976)
* Pécs, Hungary (1990)
* Beersheba, Israel (1991)
* Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia, United States (1991)
* Zhengzhou, China (1994)
* Makati, Philippines (1996)
* Suwon, South Korea (1999)
* Chacao Municipality, Chacao (Caracas), Venezuela (1999)
* São Paulo, Brazil (2000)
* Korçë, Albania (2001)
* Province of Parma, Italy (2005)
* Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, United States (2005)
* East Lansing, Michigan, East Lansing, United States (2005)
* Rotherham, England, United Kingdom (2006)
* Viterbo, Italy (2009)
* Namur, Belgium, Namur, Belgium (2010)
* Ningbo, China (2014)
* Ungheni, Moldova (2016)
* Karaganda, Kazakhstan (2017)
* Braga, Portugal (2018)
* Eskişehir, Turkey (2020)
Footnotes
a. The engraving, dating back to 1617, was executed by Georg Houfnagel after the painting of Egidius van der Rye (the original was done in the workshop of Braun and Hagenberg).
b. After the declaration of the union between the 1918–1920 period an exodus of Hungarian inhabitants occurred. Also, the city grew and many people moved in from the surrounding area and Cluj County as a whole, populated largely by Romanians.
c. In August 1940, as the second Vienna Award transferred the northern half of Transylvania to Hungary, many Hungarians and Romanians chose to leave or were exiled. After some ethnic Hungarians groups considered unreliable or insecure were sacked/expelled from Southern-Transylvania, the Hungarian officials also regularly expelled some Romanian groups from Northern-Transylvania.[A történelem tanúi – Erdély – bevonulás 1940 p 56. - The witnesses of history – Transylvania – Entry 1940 p. 56. - ]
d. The 1941 Hungarian census is considered unreliable by most historians. In 1941, Cluj had 16,763 Jews. They were forced into ghettos in 1944 by the Hungarian authorities and deported to Auschwitz in May–June 1944.
e. In the 1960s a determined policy of industrialisation was initiated. Many people from the surrounding rural areas (largely Romanian) moved into the city, giving Cluj a Romanian majority.
f. Data refer to those for whom ethnicity is available, and do not include the 23,165 individuals (7.1% of the city's population) for whom such data are unavailable.
See also
*List of people from Cluj-Napoca
Notes
References
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External links
Official websites
Cluj-Napoca: Official administration site
Cluj-Napoca : Official tourism site
Cluj County Prefecture
Cluj-Napoca Local Civic Council
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Cluj-Napoca International Airport
City guides
Interactive map, directory and various connected to the city
Photos
Flickr – Cluj-Napoca
Other
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{{Authority control
Cluj-Napoca,
Cities in Romania
Capitals of Romanian counties
Populated places in Cluj County
Localities in Transylvania
Capitals of the Principality of Transylvania